415 pigs stolen while family sleeps

Investigators are asking for the public's help to find the thieves who took 415 pigs from an Iowa Farm.

The Dekker family said their hogs are worth more than $38,000. They were taken from the family's farm near Sheldon, which is about 60 miles northeast of Sioux City.

"You hear of things like this but you never expect it to hit home, and be at your facility, especially when we live just a quarter of a mile away from ourhog barn site," Tina Dekker told KMEG-TV.

Dekker said the 220 feeder pigs and 195 fat hogs are missing as of Nov. 11. The theft happened overnight when the Dekkers were sleeping.

Authorities said the thieves used a semi tractor-trailer to load up the animals.

"It could be a dishonest farmer, a neighbor down the road, or in the county, that is struggling financially, that is going to mix the pigs in on his own...All pigs look the same, and it's going to be really difficult to identify and track," Tina Dekker told KMEG-TV.